‹ Master Data

SAP Business Partner

The SAP Business Partner consolidates all important information about customers, suppliers, and other partners in a single, centralized master data record. Its flexible roles simplify data maintenance and provide for consistent, uniform master data in SAP.

What is the SAP Business Partner?

The SAP Business Partner (BP) is a central master data object in SAP that consolidates all relevant information about a person or organization. Examples include customers, suppliers, and employees.

As the central master data object the Business Partner consolidates all partner/business partner types (people, organizations, groups) in one single object. Thanks to a flexible role concept a business partner can perform several functions at the same time – for instance, it can be both a customer and a supplier. As a result, data is maintained consistently in one place, avoiding redundant records, and all processes in sales, purchasing, and other areas use a shared data basis.

How does the SAP Business Partner work?

The SAP Business Partner is the central object for managing all master data of people and organizations that have a relationship with a company. It is created once and then made usable for different business processes through different roles.

  • Central data entry
  • Role-based control
  • Relationships and links
  • Integration across all SAP modules
  • Advantages in everyday use

What are the advantages of using the SAP Business Partner?

  • Central master data management
  • Less redundancy and higher data quality
  • Flexibility through roles
  • Improved integration in SAP processes
  • Clear relationships between partners
  • More efficient master data maintenance
  • Uniform, modern data structure

What are the disadvantages of using the SAP Business Partner?

  • Some redundant data retention will remain
  • If multiple addresses are involved, there will not be any real simplification, because vendors and customers still only support one address
  • Implementation and migration are complex
  • Role management and number management can be complicated
  • Not all “simplification” promises are kept
  • The expected simplification in data maintenance may fail to materialize completely

What are the essentials of the SAP Business Partner?

  • BP is a requirement in SAP S/4HANA
  • Customer-vendor integration (CVI) is decisive
  • Define and maintain roles cleanly
  • Plan number ranges strategically
  • Understand what the multi-address capabilities really are
  • Not all simplification effects will pay off automatically
  • Do not underestimate the migration effort required
  • Use relationships between business partners sensibly

What the difference between the SAP Business Partner and the customer/vendor?

The SAP Business Partner (BP) is the central master data object in SAP S/4HANA and groups all partner types (customers, suppliers, and other business partners) together in a single record. While the previously separate master records, customer and vendor (supplier), remain conventional terms, they are no longer managed as separate objects in SAP S/4HANA, but instead mapped completely in the Business Partner Model through the corresponding business partner roles. As a result, the BP replaces separate maintenance of the legacy customer/vendor masters and groups all relevant roles together in one central, flexible data object.

Is using the SAP Business Partner recommended?

If you are planning a transformation to SAP S/4HANA, there is no way around using the Business Partner. Its implementation is mandatory in SAP S/4HANA projects, because it replaces the leading master data object for customers, suppliers, and contact persons.

What is the right way to use SAP Business Partner?

To use SAP Business Partner correctly, use it as the single, central object for maintaining all business partner data and control it consistently through roles, CVI, and data quality.
This will enable you to capture the full functionality and process integration of SAP S/4HANA.

Is the switch to the SAP Business Partner recommended?

Yes, the switch to the SAP Business Partner (BP) is clearly recommended for both technical and functional reasons. It is even unavoidable in many cases, particularly when a company plans to transform to SAP S/4HANA in future.

How does the SAP Business Partner help in everyday business?

The SAP Business Partner (BP) simplifies your everyday work noticeably, because it centralizes master data, standardizes processes, reduces redundant work, improves data quality, and simplifies data process flows in sales, purchasing, and accounting.

Who can support me with the SAP Business Partner?

gicom is a specialist for all master data objects, particularly the SAP Business Partner.

What tips can you provide for the SAP Business Partner?

  • Maintain general data first, then the roles
  • Define number ranges and roles cleanly
  • Pay attention to good data quality
  • Use relationships between business partners
  • Use multiple addresses and validities deliberately
  • Configure CVI cleanly (in SAP S/4HANA)
  • Work uniformly with transaction “BP”